Aftermath
by motaarena
Summary: After the fire - Harry realizes what he wants. Not Epilogue Compliant.


With the war finally finished, Harry anxiously surveys the room. His eyes search out a familiar crop of blonde hair, his shoulders visibly relaxed when they see three people huddled together in the great hall.

His mind flashes back quickly:

The flames were scorching hot, and Ron was screaming at him. The disbelief in his voice was evident as Harry swooped the broom back down into the burning fire. There was no time to think though, it was instinct, and Harry knew that he just had to save him. There was no reason, no thought process, just a plain and simple need, the need that he couldn't just let the other boy die.

Suddenly he is standing again in the Great Hall, the heat of the fire recedes into his mind once again. Harry wishes that he could stop time, just to puzzle it over a little more in his brain. His brain was screaming at him to take it slow, but as his feet moved towards the family, Harry felt his Gryffindor tendencies over take him once again.

His mind wanders again:

Ron was questioning him about "saving the Ferret" and Harry for once did not tell his best friend's the truth. Of course he did not want more deaths on his conscience, but more than that, Harry in a split second had realized what had always eluded him before. No one had ever been able to goad Harry quite as much or quite as well as Draco, and in an instant Harry knew that he couldn't let him die. It was the reasons behind this action that were more concerning. Their hands had connected and as Harry pulled the other boy onto his broom, the relief that he felt was palpable, but it was the sudden rush of emotions that overtook him when Draco latched his arms around Harry's waist that he wasn't prepared for. The feeling of perfection, of the heat no longer only coming from the fire. Harry couldn't yet up into words how the saving of Draco was not for Draco, but for his own sanity. How could he explain to the two people that had always been with him, that in his own way, Draco had always been there as well.

Harry's single-minded musings were interrupted by a hesitant tap on the shoulder. When he turned to see who it was he was ambushed by a pair of arms and a mass of ginger hair. Reality snapped back into to Harry's gut with a force larger than when he returned to the living. How was he ever going to get out of the situation that he was in, everyone would hate him for what he was about to do. Madness set in on him suddenly, anger at the world for once again standing in the way of him getting to do what he wanted. Ginny untangled herself from him and through glistening tears made his fears go away. She stumbled a little at first, stuttered about not wanting to do it this right away, but Neville needed to come first... Slowly comprehension dawned on Harry, and he laughed a little short laugh. It was not difficult to put Ginny at ease, he just assured her that he wasn't heart-broken and added for good measure that he wasn't even sure that he batted for that team in the end anyways. Ginny's eyes went wide, but her relief was more overwhelming than her shock. Harry just smiled and sent her back to the waiting arms of Neville.

Harry's feet once again start making their trek. He isn't nervous, figures that there is no need to be. The puzzle pieces finally fit for him, after all when everything is broken down it is hard not to notice that the person that he knows best in this world is the person that he is walking toward. Know thy enemy and all that rubbish. But Harry does know him, knows what he looks like when he's nervous, when he knows something, how he takes his coffee and his favourite dessert. But suddenly it isn't enough, he wants to know more. Wants to know what his hair looks like right after waking up, whether he tastes as good as he smells, whether he hogs all the blankets at night. He suddenly never wants to let Draco out of his sight. And oddly, he knows that Draco knows all the same things about him as well, that it will be comfortable if only Draco will let him.

Harry's thought process suddenly halts. God, what if this doesn't make the same sense for Draco. What if he truly does hate him? A slight shake of his head and he resumes walking.

Because he is not paying attention to his surroundings, he does not notice the people starting to stare at him, doesn't notice that he just staring directly at Draco, and Draco is refusing to look away. His mother and father are trying to make him look down, trying to make him seem less arrogant then they know that he looks right now. Narcissa groans as her son refuses to listen to her or his father, when she notices that Harry's stalking over and their staring is attracting the attention of everyone in the Hall. The exact opposite of what the Malfoy's should be doing right now. If Harry had noticed that he was making a scene, maybe he would have reconsidered his actions, maybe he would of played it off as him going to thank Narcissa for her actions that day. But Harry was focused only on Draco, on the fact that Draco refused to lower his eyes, that Draco knew that Harry needed that connection to do what the last 7 years had been building up to.

Harry got only 5 feet away from the family when Draco shrugged off his father's restraining arm and stood to face Harry completely. A small smirk played on Harry's lips and was returned in kind by Draco. The Great Hall fell silent as the two boys stood toe to toe. Hermoine had to hold Ron back and Ginny gripped Neville's hand tightly. The older Malfoy's held each, realizing that perhaps the fate of the family was already resting on their son's shoulders.

Standing toe to toe, Draco was taller than Harry, but when Harry opened his mouth to speak it was clear that the height difference did not intimidate the smaller wizard at all.

His voice was low and dangerous with a slight hissing quality to it, and Draco felt that his knees would be weak even without the words pouring out of Harry's mouth.

"... what on earth were you thinking you great prat! You could've died... even together those stupid goons of yours were never smarter than a thimble. How dare you..."

Suddenly Draco interrupted,

"I could've died! Listen to yourself, stop being stupid! You did die... " on the last word Draco's voice cracked at bit and Harry's eyes softened slightly. Suddenly Draco resumed his tirade in a much louder voice than before:

"...and just what exactly did you think I would do then huh? Did you think that I would be able to just go on my merry little wa-..."

The Great Hall gasped collectively at the implication in the incomplete sentence. Harry roughly grabbed the front of Draco's robes and pulled him into a searing kiss.

Somewhere in the hall, Ron fainted.


End file.
